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Christian Parents, Others Protest As University Of Ibadan Shuts Down Over Hijab Crisis

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Christian, traditional religion and some Muslim pupils’ parents has learnt their voices, protesting against the hijab crisis at the University of Ibadan International School on Wednesday. The parents stormed the office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of the institution, Prof. Adeyinka Aderinto, to register their displeasure against the Muslim Parents Forum.

The forum had been championing the wearing of hijab by female Muslim pupils. Their displeasure of the parents is that such enforcement can divide the students along religious lines.

Members of the Muslim Parents Forum had twice in the last 10 days distributed hijab to their female pupils against the school’s prescribed dress code.

The Muslim parents had written a letter to the school management and governing board, stating that their female pupils must be allowed to wear hijab on their school uniforms. The letter was entitled: ‘Notification of Muslim Parents’ Resolution on Hijab for our Muslim Girls in ISI’.

Their agitation and the attendant threat to peace led to the indefinite shutdown of the school on Monday. Series of meetings, including that of the Parent-Teacher Association, which the Muslim parents attended but left midway following irreconcilable differences with the school management and other stakeholders, could not douse the tension in the ISI.

On Wednesday, many placard-carrying parents condemned the approach of the Muslim parents to the issue of hijab. They argued that the school was an indivisible entity, which no one or group should be allowed to divide for any reason.

The protesters described as dangerous a situation where little children were being made to discriminate against each other along religious, ethnic and other sentiments instead of emerging as global citizens.

In their letter entitled, ‘Clamour for the introduction of religious emblem for our children in the International School, University of Ibadan’, the parents urged the school’s board, which is headed by the DVC, to ensure that the rules and regulations guiding the institution, and to which all parents signed to uphold, reigned supreme.

They insisted that the pupils were friends and colleagues as well as their parents, stressing that any attempt by some Muslim parents to divide them should not be allowed to succeed.

In a letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, UI; the principal and the PTA Chairman, ISI, the parents said they received the news of the second closure of the school in the space of two weeks with serious pain and trauma. They insisted that the rules and regulations of the school must be binding on all consenting parents and their wards.

They accused the Muslim parents of attempting to disrupt the school’s academic activities as well as the love and unity already existing among the pupils, who do not see religious barriers among themselves.

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